Anytime I hear about apes doing things that only humans are supposed to do, it catches my attention. Clearly the reason is my interest in sasquatches, and my quest to understand them more than I do now (a life-long quest that will never be completed, I’m sure).

I’ve always thought that the debate about whether bigfoots are apes or humans is not a worthy argument to engage in. Humans are apes. Special apes, I admit, but apes nonetheless. In fact, all the apes are special in my mind, and bigfoots are included in that assessment. The question should be how human-like are bigfoots. I suspect they are very much like humans, probably far more so than most folks would be comfortable with.

But I digress…

I saw this article about a particular bonobo that figured out how to use fire for cooking. I found that interesting, but the last few paragraphs of the article are the ones that really made me want to post it to the blog. Here are some of those paragraphs:

“This isn’t the first time apes have displayed uniquely human behavior. The report “Spontaneous Prosocial Choice By Chimpanzees,” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the primates are as cooperative as humans, especially when their partners are patient with them.

Bonobos are also known as pygmy or dwarf chimpanzees, and listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List due in large part to poaching.

According to the Daily Mail report, this is the first time a bonobo ape has developed this skill, which Dr Savage-Rumbaugh, of the Great Ape Trust, links to early human development.

“When humans learned to control fire and to domesticate dogs we began to feel a new level of safety which freed us to become creative and to create more sophisticated cultures,” Savage-Rumbaugh told the Daily Mail.

Kanzi’s skills have also transcended food groups: not only can he cook hamburgers in a pan over the fire, but he can roast marshmallows at the end of a stick, too.

I grew up with the Original Planet of the Apes! I have been fascinated by Bigfoot for years. I watched a video of Chimps that watched ne of their own die and it was just like watching a human family! If you are intellegent enough to feel pain I know you can feel love! That to me is most important!